Vehicle airbags are safety devices that deploy toward the interior of a vehicle to help protect its occupants from injury in the event of a crash. Airbags may be concealed behind or beneath an interior panel during normal vehicle operation until such an event. When the airbag deploys, it typically does so through a deployment opening formed in or around the interior panel. The deployment opening may be pre-formed in the panel, the panel may move away to reveal the opening, or the opening may be formed during airbag deployment at a predetermined location in the panel. Where formed during deployment, a tear seam may be provided in one or more components of the panel to at least partially define the predetermined location of the opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,989,052 to Hehn et al. describes an airbag cover for a motor vehicle having a decor layer and a spacer mesh, each with a weakening for deploying an airbag. The weakening is formed in both the decor layer and the spacer mesh on a side which faces a folded airbag. An intermediate layer is positioned between the decor layer and the spacer mesh and is made of material that is relatively resistant to tensile forces, but has low tear resistance to forces acting perpendicular to its plane.